


half-past midnight

by yee_hawlw



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Deaf!Max, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Relationship, Sharing a Bed, and flirt all the time, like in that pre relationship stage where they have an absurd amount of unresolved sexual tension, minor canon divergence cause of, they boutta boil over WE CAN ALL TELL
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 09:49:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19104682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yee_hawlw/pseuds/yee_hawlw
Summary: Max is anxious, and Chloe needs a place to stay. They both need to work some things out.





	half-past midnight

**Author's Note:**

> ASL is written _'like this.'_

It's not even twelve-thirty at night, but Max can already tell that she’s not going to get any sleep tonight.

For half a minute, she’d tried to catch up on homework, since she hasn't exactly been doing it since the whole "time travel powers" thing. After that failed, she’d tried to focus on her research. After  _that_ failed, she’d turned to Youtube. When she couldn’t even focus on cute cat videos, she finally decided just to lay down and try to sleep.

After ten minutes staring at her wall and then ten more minutes staring at her ceiling, trying desperately not to think about the potential impending apocalypse, Max is longing for the sweet release of death.

If only she had fast forwarding powers.

Her room illuminates as her phone screen lights up with a notification. Max is nearly in tears at the possibility of relief from this soul-consuming boredom. She turns over and fumbles around her nightstand for a moment. She blinks rapidly as her phone screen shines right in her face.

 **_Chloe 12:42 a.m._ ** **_  
_ ** _hey_

 **_Chloe: 12:42 a.m._ ** **_  
_ ** _i may or may not be outside the pisscott dorms rn_

 **_Chloe: 12:43 a.m._ ** **_  
_ ** _come down and lemme in?_

 **_Chloe: 12:43 a.m._ ** **_  
_ ** _ <3 _

Max can’t help the smile that forms on her face.

 **_Max: 12:44 a.m._ ** **_  
_ ** _So you finally give into the emoji?_

 **_Chloe: 12:44 a.m._ ** **_  
_ ** _NO!!!!_

 **_Chloe: 12:44 a.m._ ** **_  
_ ** _hearts dont count as emojis_

 **_Chloe: 12:45 a.m._ ** **_  
_ ** _now come down and let me in hippie!! im freezing my ass off out here_

 **_Max: 12:45 a.m._ ** **_  
_ ** _Be down in a minute! :)_

 **_Chloe: 12:46 a.m._ ** **_  
_ ** _NO EMOJI!!!_

Max chuckles to herself. She turns on her phone’s flashlight in order to find her shoes and her keys.

 **_Chloe: 12:48 a.m._ ** **_  
_ ** _max!! you gonna come rescue me or what??_

 **_Max: 12:49 a.m._ ** **_  
_ ** _I am literally on my way down the stairs right now._

She's tempted to rewind so that she's already at the door when Chloe arrives to freak her out. But she's already rewinded herself into two bloody noses today; she's kind of tired.

Max pushes open the front door to the Prescott Dormitories and finds Chloe standing on the steps, phone in-hand and thumbs hovering over the screen.

As soon as she sees Max, her entire face lights up. Chloe rushes forward to scoop Max up off the ground in a tight hug. Max feels like all the air in her lungs is being squeezed out like a pair of bagpipes.

When Chloe finally puts her down, Max draws in a heavy breath of air and shoots her an incredulous look. ' _What was that for?'_

Chloe’s hand is still on her shoulder as she smiles brightly down at her. The lampposts in the courtyard are still lit, even though curfew has passed, and they shine enough light for Max to make out the details of Chloe’s face semi-well.

Chloe’s fingers drag across Max’s shoulder - and, the side of Max that may or may not be forming the slightest crush on her childhood friend decides, almost _suggestively_ \- as she pulls her hands away from Max’s person to sign.

_'I missed you.'_

Max squints at her. _'You saw me less than four hours ago.'_

_'Four hours too many, babe.'_

Max feels her cheeks flush. She shoves Chloe lightly. _'You’re such a dick.'_

_'For missing you?!'_

Max rolls her eyes and shakes her head. _' Why are you here?'_

At the question, Chloe’s mood visibly drops. She glares down at their feet for a moment before meeting Max’s eyes again. _'Step-dick and I got into a fight. I didn't really feel like sleeping at home tonight.'_

A wave of worry crashes into Max. _'Did he hurt you?'_

Chloe waves off Max’s outreaching hands. _'No, no. I just didn't feel like staying home tonight. I could feel his anger coming at me through the walls. And I didn't want to deal with my mom cornering me at the breakfast table.'_

_'You always have a place to crash with me.'_

_'Thank you,'_ Chloe says. She shivers lightly. ' _Can we go inside now? My ass is gonna freeze and fall off.'_

 _'Yeah, yeah, come in, come in.'_ Max ushers her inside.

Max takes Chloe's hand and leads her as stealthily as possible through the dark hallways, up the stairs, and finally onto her floor. Max often wakes up in the middle of the night in order to use the bathroom, so she knows how to traverse the Prescott dorms in the dark.

Chloe stops abruptly in front of Alyssa’s room. Max almost trips over her.

In the minimal lighting, Max can just barely make out the pensive look on Chloe's face. She seems like she's focusing intently, and leans her ear closer to Alyssa's door.

_'What's wrong?'_

Chloe holds her hand up in a _hold on_ motion as a grin spreads over her face. _'Sounds like Alyssa is getting some_ ,' she says, waggling her eyebrows. _'Sounds like...maybe Taylor? And it seems like Alyssa's topping. Nice, girl.'_

Max scrunches up her nose. _'I_ _didn't need to be informed of that, but thank you.'_

Chloe grins teasingly. _'You’re welcome.'_ She throws her arm around Max’s shoulder, leaning most of her weight on her. _'I believe you were taking me to your room?'_

Max rolls her eyes and shoves her off. She takes Chloe's hand again, leading her past Alyssa's room, past the bathrooms, past Victoria's room, and, finally, into Max's dorm.

Chloe shuts the door behind them as Max spreads her arms out towards her room. _'Welcome to my twisted mind.'_

 _'That's right, I haven't been in here yet.'_ Chloe pushes past Max, not even acknowledging her joke which, admittedly, makes Max a little disappointed. Eyes wide, she takes it all in.

There are dirty clothes strewn about the floor and her bed is totally unkempt. The entire surface of her desk is covered in books and notes about time travel. Nervousness wells up in Max’s stomach. If she'd known she was having company, she would have cleaned.

Chloe's eyes brighten, and she walks over to pick up Max's guitar leaned against her sofa. She picks it up and turns back to Max. _'You still play?'_

Max nods. _'Yeah. Kate helps me keep in practice through weekly jam sessions.'_

_'Kate Marsh? She plays the violin, right?'_

_'Correct.'_

_'You guys should totally form the world's first Deaf classical/indie band.'_

_'I doubt it would be the first.'_

_'The best, then.'_ Chloe places the guitar back where she found it and continues her inspection of the room. She wanders over to Max's photo wall. _'This is cool. Are these all Polaroid?'_

_'What else would they be?'_

Chloe takes in the photo wall top to bottom. Her eyes widen, and she dives forward to snatch Max's stuffed bear off the bed before Max can do anything. _'No way! You still have the Captain?'_

Max feels her entire face flush red with absolute mortification. She  _definitely_ should have cleaned before bringing Chloe up here.

Chloe scoops the Captain up before Max can even remotely try forming her hands into proper signs. _'Your parents got him for you when you were, like, two, right? I can’t believe he’s still kicking.'_

Max chuckles and scratches the side of her jaw, face still on fire. She desperately hopes that Chloe puts him down. _'Yeah. He’s had a lot over surgeries over the past five years.'_

Chloe considers him. She gives a light tug to his button eye, poorly stitched and coming loose. _'Poor Captain.'_ She puts him down, finally, and gives his head a couple of gentle pats.

_'Do you need to borrow clothes?'_

Chloe glances down at her outfit. _'Yeah, probably. Thanks.'_

Max's clothes don't quite fit - Chloe's a bit thicker around the hips, and the shoulders, her torso a bit longer - so Chloe ultimately decides to forgo pajamas and strips down to her underwear. She says it's for her comfort level, but judging by the smirk that crosses her face whenever she catches sight of Max's bright red cheeks, Max guesses it's more for the fun of it.

Max doesn't entirely mind.

Chloe makes room for her own phone and keys on Max's nightstand before flopping face-down onto Max's bed. Face still in the blankets, she awkwardly, one-handedly signs, _'Your bed is unbearably hard.'_

Max chuckles because, well, what did she expect from a college dorm? The creak in Max's neck has gotten so bad this past week that she might actually have to take Dana up on her offer for a massage.

With a gentle hand on Chloe's thigh, Max urges her to move over in order to pull one of her blankets out from under her.

Chloe's hand catches hers, and suddenly Chloe is looking up at her. _'What are you doing?'_

 _'Grabbing a blanket. For the couch.'_ Max tugs a bit harder to try and unlodge it out from under Chloe's body. No luck.

 _'No way! You're not sleeping on the couch after I was the one who showed up here at your place, unannounced.'_ Chloe tugs gently on her arm. ' _C'mere. We can share.'_

Max feels her face flush bright red. ' _But-'_

_'C'mon, we used to sleep in the same bed all the time when we were younger! This will just be...falling into old habits.'_

_'But we're older now. We're...different now.'_

_'Wow, I didn't take you for such a prude.'_ Chloe pinches Max's side. Max bats her hand away. ' _Seriously, though, if you don't wanna share I can take the couch. No biggie.'_

Max sighs. _'No, it's fine, I guess. Move over.'_

Chloe makes just enough room for Max to plop down next to her. Max plugs her phone in before awkwardly turning over to face Chloe.

Max only ever keeps one pillow on the bed with she goes to sleep, so they're impossibly close. She can feel Chloe's breath on her face as her mouth opens in a long yawn. Her cheeks get hot.

Max taps the pillow gently. _'This has an alarm in it. It's set to go off at 8 tomorrow morning. Do you want a different one?'_

Chloe shakes her head. _'No, I'm good. Mom's shift at Two Whales starts at 10 so I need to text her before she starts, anyway.'_

_'Okay.'_

The room descends into relative stillness. The only movement is the gentle rise and fall of Chloe's chest as she breathes.

Max tries averting her gaze, shutting her eyes, looking at anything  _but_ Chloe, but…

She's Deaf, not blind. Of  _course_ she's noticed how pretty her best friend has gotten. It's hard to take her eyes off her, especially when Chloe is so close, when the blue of her eyes is almost intoxicating in the soft light of the fairy lights, when Max is so close she can count all the light freckles on Chloe's face.

Even watching the gentle rise and fall of Chloe's stomach, Max still feels restless. She feels super-charged, electricity brimming at her fingertips with nowhere to go.

Chloe taps her side in order to get Max's attention again. _'What's going on in that head of yours?'_

Max shrugs. _'Nothing.'_

 _'Liar.'_ Chloe pinches her hard just below the ribs. Max tries to squirm away. _'I know that look. What's up?'_

Sighing, Max rolls over on her back. She stares up at the fairy lights for a moment, before Chloe's head blocks her view. She's leaned over Max with a soft look on her face. She pokes her ribs again.

Max squirms. She hopes that the room is dark enough that Chloe can't see her blush.

 _'I don't know. I'm worried about us,'_ she relents. At Chloe's wide-eyed look, she quickly adds, _'and the town. And everyone.'_

Oh, god, Max shouldn't have said that. She's already sent herself on a downward spiral. God, what if they can't save everyone? What if  _Max_ can't save everyone? What if the town gets  _destroyed_ and Nathan gets away with what he did to Kate because Max isn't good enough?

A warm hand gently cupping her ribs shocks her out of her train of thought. Another one settles over her heart. Max blinks. ' _Hey, you're okay,'_ Chloe says, gentle eyes staring into Max's, signing against her chest. _'You're fine.'_

 _'What if I can't save anyone?'_ Max says. _'What if everyone dies because I'm not enough?'_

 _'You're more than enough, Max,'_ Chloe says, earnest. _'Honestly, I haven't doubted for a second that you'll be able to save everyone.'_

The balloon of anxiety in her chest starts to deflate, but the harsh beating of her heart under Chloe's hand stays the same. She grabs onto Chloe's hand with one of her own, taking a deep breath. _'I guess.'_

 _'Anyway, you don't have to worry about that shit right now. It's sleep time_.'

Leaving Max no room to argue, she flops back onto her side behind Max. Max keeps hold of the hand resting on her chest and Chloe pulls her in snugly, so close that Max can just faintly feel the  _ba-bump_ of Chloe's own heart against her back.

Chloe is warm and heavy and  _solid_ and smells of smoke, and Max is so, so tired.

As she starts to fall asleep, she spells out against Chloe's hand, _'T-H-A-N-K-S.'_

**Author's Note:**

> Chat with me about LIS on tumblr here [**@yee-hawlw**](https://yee-hawlw.tumblr.com/) ****
> 
> Reviews really do mean a lot to me!


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